Director of Wales

Full-time, flexibility or part-time considered
Wales
Cardiff
Last day to apply: 29/08/2025

The Organisation

Our client is an independent policy and research organisation focused on lifelong education and better employment. Their vision is for a fair and prosperous society where education and employment enable everyone to realise their potential. They research what works, influence policy, and develop new ideas to improve practice.

The Role

Contract Type: Permanent

Salary: £64,450-£77,880

This is a key role, leading a team and work in Wales and being part of the Senior Management Team. It aims to further increase our client’s impact on knowledge, skills and employment in Wales, including by: growing and diversifying their income; increasing their profile; managing strategic partnerships and exercising influence at the higher levels in Wales; and ensuring they deliver high quality policy, research and events that makes a difference to policy and practice.

The role is also a member of the Senior Management Team, working across the organisation, ensuring our client works in a joined up way, that they’re an engaging and supportive place to work, and leading on specific organisational initiatives.

Duties and Responsibilities

- Income generation and diversification. Identify and secure new sources of income including the production of high quality, successful funding applications, working with colleagues across the organisation where appropriate.
- Strategy and financial planning. Lead development and implementation of the strategic plan in Wales, including working with the Wales Strategy Group and maximizing opportunities for impact, and ensuring the financial sustainability of our client’s work in Wales.
- Stakeholder engagement. Build effective and productive relationships across the public, private and third sectors in Wales, including with ministers, special advisers and senior officials in the Welsh Government, and other key influencers, to maximise our client’s impact
- Leadership and management. Be an active member of SMT and organisational leader, promoting joined-up working and the organisation as a great place to work. Lead the Wales team, ensuring they have opportunities to further develop. Act at all times in an inclusive, collaborative, open way that lives our client’s values.
- Project management. Ensuring their portfolio of work in Wales is delivered on time, on budget, and to a high quality, and making the links between projects so they have maximum impact.
- Strategic communications. Proactively promote our client’s external profile and key messages through PR, marketing and media activity. Ensure they adhere at all times to Welsh language standards.
- Undertake any other reasonable duties as required by the CEO, including travel to other offices.

About You

Essential:

- Ability to develop new business and income streams including responding to tenders and generating proactive funding from trusts and foundations
- Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to engage a range of audiences. You will be confident on national platforms dealing with the media; writing for a range of different platforms and social media.
- Leadership skills that include developing and motivating staff and teams, and ability to work collaboratively as part of the Senior Management Team
- Ability to build and enhance networks, alliances and relationships at the highest level across stakeholders in Wales including politicians and policymakers
- Well developed knowledge of the political and policy environment in Wales in the areas of knowledge, skills and employment
- Excellent written and oral communication skills to influence and persuade, a confident presenter with the ability to relate to a wide range of audiences
- Ability to effectively manage a portfolio of research and policy projects and events, delivered on time and on budget to a high quality
- Ability to develop new business and income streams for the organisation including responding to tenders and generating proactive funding from trusts and foundations

Desirable:

- Understanding the fields of knowledge, skills and employment policy and practice across the UK and network of contacts in Wales and the UK
- Knowledge or experience of governance requirements, such as working with Boards, in the third sector
- An innovative and creative thinker with a record of transforming ideas into practice and ability to understand and analyse a range of research and policy
- Ability to communicate through Welsh, and the confidence to do so

The Package

Salary of £64,450-£77,880 depending on experience and location

- 31 days' holiday increasing to 33 days after 5 years’ service, of which 6 are shutdown days in addition to public holidays.
- Generous company pension scheme with 8% employer contribution
- Group Life Assurance 3*salary
- Hybrid working (with 40%-60% of your time in the office)
- Flexible working practices
- Employee Development Scheme
- Retailer Discounts
- Enhanced occupational maternity, adoption, paternity and shared parental pay
- Enhanced occupational sick pay
- Eye care scheme
- Employee Assistance & Wellbeing Programme
- Gold award in Investors in People

Details

Our client values equality, diversity and inclusion, and welcomes applications from different backgrounds. They are also committed to making reasonable adjustments for candidates who have accessibility requirements.

If you possess the experience and attributes above and have a passion to support the delivery of our client’s vision, then you could be the person they are seeking. Applications that include CV and covering letter are welcomed through the link below.

The closing date for applications is 29th August 2025. Interviews will be held on after the closing date.